WHAT'S IN A NAME?

May 7, 2016

"I want to be called Grandfather. Not Pawpaw, not Deedaw, not even Grandad or Grandpa. Grandfather." Wallace made this crystal clear when he learned he would become a grandfather, and he meant it--straightforward and traditional.

Fast forward several months to the adorable grandchild who begins to walk and talk. She toddles toward her grandfather and for the first time calls him, "PaPa." The reaction without hesitation is, "Awww, come to PaPa!" The rest is history.

Beyond simple identification, a name can reflect many things including origin, characteristics, or meaning. Naming a child is a big responsibility, delegating someone to a given name they will carry with them their entire life. "Thanks, Mom. I like my name."

Parents-to-be might have long debates when one parent is set on a name the other parent cannot swallow. My husband and I spun in circles just trying to name our cat. At least cat now has a name. "Here, kitty, kitty." Oh well, what cat actually answers to a given name?

Family names often provide a clue to our roots. I've spent a lot of time through the years explaining my last name.

"F-j-e-r-a-n."

"F-j?"

"Yes, Fjeran."

"F-j, like the Norwegian fjords."

Many Scandinavian names can be heard in Minnesota and Wisconsin. According to Wikipedia, Helga is derived from Old Norse heilagr, which means "holy" or "blessed." It is used mainly in Scandinavia, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Netherlands. The Eastern Slavic name Olga is derived from Helga. Remember Betty White in her role as Rose Nylund telling her amusing stories about Olga from St. Olaf?

In the world of plants you will find scientific names that include genus and species, both Latin names. Scientific names ensure proper classification and identification of plants. The genus for Maples is Acer. The genus for Oaks is Quercus.

Names can also provide clues about size, color, or habit. Following the genus, the species further identifies the plant providing descriptive information, i.e. Acer rubrum is Red Maple and Quercus rubra is Red Oak. Florabunda tells us it has a lot of flowers, macrophyllum tells us it has large leaves. A little knowledge of Latin helps. Sempervirens means evergreen, much like semper fidelis means always faithful. "Semper fi."

Stay with me, this is easy. The scientific name might further include a variety or culivar name. Varieties and cultivars are frequently named after an individual who discovered a unique variation of a species or hybridized (culivated) a new cultivar. Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Bath's Pink' was named after Jane Bath, owner and founder of LandArts in Monroe, Georgia. The garden center is no longer open and I lost track of Ms. Bath, but her Bath's Pink can still be found in most garden centers.

Common names of plants reflect local language and usually relate to characteristics of the plant or legends. A charming book, Wildflower Folklore, by Laura Martin not only lists common names, family, genus, and species, it also shares the legends around plants.

The legend of Forget-Me-Not is especially endearing. Like the lovely lady in assisted living who could not remember her own name, Laura Martin notes, "When God was naming plants, the little blue flower with the yellow center could not remember the name given to it. Finally God whispered to it, 'Forget me not, that is your name.'" The lovely lady had forgotten her name, but she remembered her favorite plant. That's real life flower power.

Although a daunting task, naming pets, plants, and babies might be easier than naming websites or blogs. Unlike URLs, thankfully, babies may share the same name.

What's in a name? Everything. The name 'Mom' means the world to me. "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!"

[Carolyn Fjeran, LowTide explorer/reflective writer; horticulturist & gardener; former writer for Cooperative Extension Service, Master Gardeners and The Newnan Times Herald]